Vanzae 2
March-19-1793
Pierre Vanzae
This is my first time writing in a journal but I suppose it's not uncommon for a soldier to keep one. I would have never started a journal but my friends have been dying in combat and yesterday when we attacked part of the Austria army, they retreated to the nearby town. Our commanding officer LT (Lieutenant) Kozmay ordered us to open fire on the town. He is a cruel, cold hearted man. When CPL (Corporal) Mazu asked about the civilians in the town, he replied "We have given them enough time. The Austria soldiers have probably moved them somewhere else. Any civilian left inside the town has bad luck." We opened fire on the town with the cannons and for 6 minutes straight, we bombed the town. Afterwards, we stormed the town and only to find dead civilians but no soldiers. We walked through the rubble of what was left of the town. I walked into a half destroyed house. I was horrified at what I saw. 2 little bodies about half the size of me (I'm 6' 4") were lying on the floor. They were 2 little girls. They couldn't be no more than 13 years old. One of them had her legs blown off, and the other….the other….oh god, I don't want to remember. It was horrible. The sight was unbearable. It was the worst thing I've seen in my life. It was worse than when we had to watch our comrades die burning alive in a ditch. The bed was upside down and I saw something sticking out of the mattress. It was a diary. I opened it up and started reading. The last entry read, "Today my mejor amigo (best friend) Anna is coming over. I'm so excited. We're going to have so much fun. She might even tell me who she likes. I think I already know. Where going to go to the park. She says that she has something special planed. I wonder what it is. This is going to be the best day ever." The entry was dated today. I heard shouting outside and when I finally got out of the house, I saw CPL Mazu yelling at LT Kozmay. He was yelling that he was a murderer. He then punched the LT. Some of the soldiers grabbed the CPL and LT Kozmay ordered he be placed under arrest for treason. One of my friends, arrested for treason. We all knew what that meant. As soon as he made it back to France, he would be killed with the guillotine. Our scouts came back and told us that the Austrian army is moving and is about half a mile away already. All that came out of this mess was another of my friends dead and a guilty consensus from killing all those innocent civilians. This doesn't look good for CPL Mazu and LT Kozmay. We'll just have to see what's going to happen.
P.S. I was promoted to CPL (Corporal).